Community Service in the Workplace

During the year I give away over a million dollars in brand new children’s clothes, toys and furnishings from an organization called KIDS- Kids in Distressed Situations for The New World Foundation. Founded my members of the toy, children’s apparel, and furniture manufacturers of America KIDS believes in giving items to the underprivileged that they would give to their own children- hence everything is new. In a way, since it is not a requirement of my job as Grants Administrator, my work with KIDS is like community service. I do extra hours at work to place these items, often with my 12 year old daughter watching, asking questions or assisting. Having a child watch as you work in the community is a great way to get them to learn to share themselves. It isn’t always easy to give away a million dollars worth of children’s merchandise. Many of the companies give away large quantities of the same item, so I have to find organizations that are willing to take 25,000 size 2, 3 and 4 t-shirts, 10,000 pair of blue jeans or a tractor-trailer of disposable diapers. I must keep a list of large organizations that will spread the wealth, and smaller organizations that they can give to or that I can give to when I get a small donation. Sometimes I am allowed to break up shipments and the companies will pay for it to go to many places. Last summer a clothing store donated expenses children’s and junior size dresses and suits to KIDS. New World Foundation would pay for shipping it to four different places. With the help of my 12 year old daughter we took two days going through the boxes and tearing off the plastic and the hangers and the price tags- many of them over $300. I remember laughing at my daughter when she said “I didn’t know working in a clothing store could be so much work.” Later, with the help of one of the Foundation’s interns, Vanessa Martinez, we divided the dresses into four groups. The many white dresses and suits we sent to a church in Alabama; the junior size professional looking suits and clothes we sent to an Asian Women’s organization in California that helps clothe women going to work in offices for the first time. A church in Atlanta, Georgia and a high school in Columbus, Georgia received the dresses more suited for teens. It would have taken me many evenings to do this alone but with the help of Vanessa and my daughter we finished in two.

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